This weekend we hosted six seminaries in our annual Soccer and Volleyball Tournament, also known as the “Thunder Cup” tournament. Saturday morning the soccer games began. There were six teams competing, and each were guaranteed two games. The winning teams from each bracket would face off in the championship Sunday morning. It was an overcast day, but pleasant with temperatures reaching 70.

In bracket play, Conception Seminary College lost to Our Lady of Guadalupe in penalty kicks. Our Lady of Guadalupe would eventually go on to win the championship game on Sunday morning.

Saturday evening the volleyball tournament began. There were seven teams involved, and in round robin play, that meant that there would be a total of 21 games to be played. The tournament began at 6:45 PM, but didn’t get over until 11:15 PM! I coached the “Sons of Thunder” squad (pictured below). We did not make it to the championship game this year, but nevertheless I was incredibly impressed with our teamwork, disciple, and play. We lost three of our games by 1 or 2 points and our overall 2 win and 4 loss record didn’t reflect the heart and teamwork with which these seminarians competed. It was an amazing performance and I’m proud of them for their dedication and all the work they put into the weeks of practice.

Mundelein Seminary and St. Meinrad ended up facing off in the championship game, but St. Meinrad emerged victorious this year. Fr. Brendan (pictured below) presented the trophies to the two teams. Fr. Brendan is a monk of St. Meinrad and the Rector of Conception Seminary College, so he had two teams to cheer for in the tournament.